The character of Oedipus in Oedipus and the Infernal Machine The stories of Oedipus, told through Seneca's Oedipus and Cocteau's The Infernal Machine, contain both similarities what differences. Both authors describe Oedipus' character as stubborn, ignorant and curious. However, Seneca and Cocteau differ in their interpretation of the reasons that prompted these characteristics of Oedipus. Seneca portrays Oedipus as a mature man who, seeing the troubles of the plague that has descended on Thebes, feels real sorrow for his dying people and wishes to cure his dying city. On the other hand, Cocteau's Oedipus is a pretentious, immature and arrogant young adult who tries to indulge in the fast and rich lifestyle of the royal class. Seneca and Cocteau seem to agree that Oedipus is a very persistent, curious and yet unconscious character. Furthermore, they believe that it is these qualities that ultimately lead to his death. In Seneca's tale, Tiresias tries to warn Oedipus that only evil will come from his need to know the identity of Laius' murderer: "Give your hunger for such knowledge now, but you will come to regret the things you know." (Sen. Oed. p. 22) Even when his horrible actions are discovered by all the other characters, Oedipus, unaware of the truth, persists in his search. Creon describes the area where King Laius was killed, but Oedipus seems unaware of anything and instead continues to ask for the identity of Laius' murderer. Oedipus. . . .Who did I kill? For a mistake, a pure and simple mistake, an old man on the street, a stranger. Tiresias. Oedipus, your mistake killed Jocasta's husband, King Laius. Oedipus. You two. Now I see your form... in the center of the paper... the presence of his mother at his side. In the end, Oedipus, according to Cocteau, does not even solve the riddle, but the answer is instead given by the Sphinx itself. Both Seneca and Cocteau consider Oedipus to be a stubborn and curious man whose need to identify the murderer of King Laius, despite warnings from Jocasta, Teiresias, and Creon to leave it alone, leads him to his horrible fate. Yet there is a clear difference between the motivations of the authors' characters. Seneca's wise and gentle Oedipus persists in his quest to find the murderer to rid Thebes of its pollution. While Cocteau's childish and arrogant character must know the identity of the murderer, simply from personal knowledge. Works Cited: Cocteau, Jean. The Infernal Machine and other comedies. New York: New Directions, 1963Seneca. The tragedies Volume II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1995